Faculty attend and participate at their own expense. We do not pay speaker fees or honorariums, nor reimburse for travel expenses. Their only payback is the fulfillment of sharing the lessons they’ve learned from a successful life with students who are preparing for their own lives after college.
A very dedicated group of men and women serve as our core faculty, speaking at numerous sessions each year. These also are accomplished leaders who present challenging, inspiring and thought-provoking presentations.
Jerry Nelson
Jerry has been a general contractor with construction projects in Michigan, California, Arizona and Mexico. He is president and founder of Pinnacle Peak Land Company and of Pinnacle Paradise, Inc. Through these entities and affiliates he has, since 1971, developed Pinnacle Peak Village, Pinnacle Peak Country Club and Shopping Plaza, Troon Village and Troon Golf & Country Club, Troon North and Troon North golf course. Current developments are proceeding in Scottsdale and Prescott, Arizona and Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico.
Mr. Nelson has funded the creation and startup of numerous companies, including Simulnet, Video Electronics, Ticketmaster, Antenna Technology Corporation, Technology Control Services, and Troon Golf Management. He was appointed by Governor Bruce Babbitt to the Urban Lands Advisory Commission and, in 1997, was inducted into Scottsdale’s “History Maker Hall of Fame.” Mr. Nelson has been an Endowment Fund Trustee since 1989. At the 2000 Grand Arch Council, Phi Kappa Psi recognized Jerry’s outstanding achievement as a volunteer and philanthropist with a National Leadership Award. Jerry and his late wife, Florence, have three sons: Nic, Tom and J.P.
Scott Noble
Scott Noble founded Noble Royalties, Inc. in 1997 with just a $50,000.00 investment. Noble Royalties has since acquired an impressive 8 million plus acres in the United States with over 75,000 producing wells on their acreage and is considered the largest private oil and gas royalty company in the United States. As of January 2011, Noble Royalties’ has more than $1.25 billion in royalty assets under management.
Noble is headquartered in Dallas, Texas with an additional office in Houston, Texas, and is a niche energy company that does not drill or operate. Instead, Noble Royalties specializes in acquiring valuable mineral, royalty and overriding royalty properties with existing cash flow that now exceeds $7,500,000.00 per month.
Before founding Noble Royalties, Inc., Scott Noble owned his own oil and natural gas exploration and production company. From 1985 to 1996, Noble participated in all phases of the upstream oil and gas business. From that experience, Scott Noble concluded that rather than speculate for energy reserves, investors would much prefer a more conservative approach to acquire reserves which could lead to more predictable and successful results.
Scott Noble is an active participant in philanthropic endeavors both locally and nationally. He is actively involved in the American Leadership Academy, The Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, Empower African Children, Texas Special Olympics, and shows his patriotism by supporting the American Heros Fund in support of severely wounded American Veterans. He believes in being active in participation as well as financially with all philanthropies.
Scott lives in Dallas with his wife and three children and enjoys golf and mountain biking personally, but enjoys watching his children play baseball, hunt, and grow into future leaders at school.
”Mom” Nonnie Owens
Nonnie Cameron Owens has been a friend to the Greek system for many years. In 1987 she started teaching etiquette to students at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Then she became a volunteer housemother to Sigma Phi Epsilon at SMU for three years before moving to West Lafayette, Indiana to be the first live-in housemother at the Sig Ep house on that campus. For nine years she lived with over 90 boys before Bruce Owens came into her life and married her in 2001. They live just north of Ft. Myers, Florida.
She was initiated into Chi Omega sorority while at Davis & Elkins College. A sorority sister was instrumental in getting her a career with the airlines. For 32 years she flew around the world before retiring in 1996 as one of American Airlines senior-most flight attendants. She has since been inducted into the American Airlines Hall of Fame for her work in training, education and service.
Nonnie is a certified U.S. and Asian etiquette consultant. She has trained thousands of corporate executives and college students and has published three books and a portable etiquette training library. In addition, for seven years she wrote an etiquette column for the Lafayette Journal and Courier newspaper and, for four years, hosted a radio program on WBAA in Lafayette.
Two years ago she stepped down from CAMPUSPEAK in Denver, CO, thinking she would retire. However, college students won’t let go of her quite yet. She has been to campuses nationwide, national conventions and, now, the faculty of the ALA’s Cabo Leadership Experience.
Paul Wineman
Paul Wineman was born in Hollywood, CA and attended the University of Washington, graduating with a BA in Communications. Commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army, he was assigned to the Office of Information, Pentagon, Washington D.C. prior to arriving in Teheran, Iran as the Officer-in-Charge of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Station operating there. In 1963, having attended the United States Army Language School in Monterey, California, for a full year of Persian (Farsi) language instruction, he was again assigned to Iran as the U.S. Army Airborne-Special Forces Advisor to the Imperial Iranian Army. In this capacity Wineman, then a Captain, was the only assigned U.S. Army Advisor to that unit.
Leaving the U.S. Army in 1965 in order to obtain a Masters Degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the American university of Beirut, Lebanon in 1967, Paul returned to Teheran, Iran, to become the General Manager of Television of Iran. In 1968, he became a Contract Supervisor to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Saudi Arabia, involved in the U.S. Army’s operation and maintenance of the Saudi Arabian Television Network.
In 1969, Paul Wineman was hired by the AVCO Corporation of the United States as Resident Representative, Middle East, for the AVCO International Services Division, resident in Beirut, Lebanon. In this capacity he was responsible for the initial marketing success of AVCO in Saudi Arabia. In 1973, Wineman became the Regional Director, Middle East, for United Aircraft International (later to come United Technologies Corporation). Wineman, after living though eight years of civil war in Lebanon, serving as a Green Beret Officer in Iran, experiencing two airplane crashes and hijacking, and being held hostage in Beirut, formed his own company specifically to consult with American Defense and Aerospace Corporations on how to market successfully and win sales internationally.
Since then he has worked with Anheuser-Busch, Litton Industries, Garrett, Vinnell, Systems Development Corporation, E-Systems, Cubic, EG&G, Lear-Siegler International, ConAgra, DeKalb Genetics, Watkins-Johnson, Phillips, Bechtel, Seaboard Corporation, CBI Industries, Simmons Industries, Kaydon Custom Bearings Gold Kist, Apple Computer, Schindler Elevator, American Cast Iron Pipe Company, and YEO. He currently negotiates for, and trains, American Corporations on how to negotiate successfully, both domestically and internationally.
Scott Nady
Coach Nady is currently the head football coach at Parish Episcopal in Farmer’s Branch, Texas, the 2010 State Champions in their conference. Before Parish Episcopal, Scott coached eight years at San Leandro High School in California. In his last four seasons at San Leandro, his team enjoyed a 48-4 win-loss record. Those four losses were to USA Today’s National High School Championship team.
A scholarship football player at Cal, he spent several years as a sports agent and recruited and represented top talent. A lifelong sportsman, he is committed to excellence and knows what it takes to build a winning culture in organizations. Scott lives in Dallas with his wife Ronnica, daughter Phoenix and son Max.